EPDs for mining and metal products, the case of copper
Chile is the major copper producer in the World, therefore reliable information to support the environmental burden of copper mining products will be relevant for the sustainability of copper industry as well as for other productive sectors along the copper value chain downstream.
The PCRs being developed are:
The LCI of reference of copper primary production in Chile is used to calculate sustainability indicators (such as carbon footprint among others). Specific PCRs for copper cathodes and copper wires are being developed on the basis of existing generic PCRs for ferrous metals belonging to the EPDsystem. A completely new PCR will be developed for copper concentrate. After public consultation an harmonization phase with other metal PCRs using in the world will take place.
The PCRs and LCA developed in the first part of the project are going to be integrated in a software tool to be used online as a validated system that allows companies to obtain the EPD of their own products and compare them with similar products made of materials diffrent than copper. The EPD software is going to be submitted to a third party for verification and validation. This EPD study will be also an opportunity to assess the application and use of the Environmental Declaration (ISO 14025- ISO14067) scheme to a Region different than Europe and North America.
The work is lead by the Research Center of Mining and Metallurgy (CIMM) in Chile in cooperation with GreenDeltaTC, University of Concepción, Chile and the International EPDsystem. The work will be presented at the conference CILCA2011(IV Conference on LCA in Latin America) : www.cilca2011.mx
For more information, please contact Claudia Peña, CIMM: cpena@cimm.cl; cpenau@gmail.com.